Thursday July 28, 2011

Thursday we planned for a light travel day so we slept in; it was about 10:00 by the time we began traveling toward Oklahoma. Our goal was to get to Edwin and Melissa’s house this evening. After traveling 208 miles we arrived at their house about 5:15pm. It was hot day traveling; thank God for air conditioning; as we passed through Weatherford, Ok. a reader board showed 107 degrees (too hot for comfort). This evening we all enjoyed a cook-out down in the canyon next to the creek that flows through the canyon. Today marks the end of our Alaska trip; Stanley’s will be leaving to spend some time with their daughter Sandi and family in Tx. and then on to their home in Va. We will be here in Ok. for a few days before we head out to our home in Tallahassee, Fl.  

 Our Entrance into Oklahoma

Merrill & Marie "The End" Stanley & Mary Jane

 "Cook Out" in the Canyon

 "Cook Out" in the Canyon

Wednesday July 27, 2011

Wednesday our travels took us from Pueblo, Co. to Amarillo, Tx. a total of 309 miles. Yesterday we experienced 98 degrees as we traveled south and today we saw 105 degrees as we passed through Dalhart, Tx. As we are approaching the end of our Alaska travels together I want to publicly thank Marie and Mary Jane for their housekeeping and cooking and Mary Jane for her bookkeeping skills. Many thanks to Stanley for his help with connecting and disconnecting the car and R.V. Stanley was also our map reader and guide as we traveled unfamiliar roads; thank you, Stanley, for all your help. “Susan” in our GPS was a good help however there is no substitute to good old map reading. We discovered that even though the GPS was helpful sometimes it had a difficult time leading us the way we wanted to go. Tonight is the last night that we will be camping at a campground together as we plan to arrive at Edwin and Melissa’s place in Oklahoma tomorrow. Yesterday and today we finished with the accounting of the cost of our trip and Mary Jane informed us that our trip actually is concluding under the amount that we estimated. This evening Stanley and Mary Jane treated us to a meal of our choice to show their appreciation for the trip. We had a delightful treat at Braum’s here in Amarillo, TX. We will miss the travel experiences we had during the last two months; however we are looking forward to getting home soon and back into our normal routines.

Marie, Stanley, & Mary Jane at Rest Area

One of many trains that we saw in the west and NW  

 Old Wind Mill along the way

 Marie, Merrill, Stanley, & Mary Jane at Braum's 

 Our last stay at an R.V. Park

    Marie at our campsite in Amarillo, Tx.

Tuesday July 26, 2011 Posted by Merrill

Tuesday morning we left our campsite at Casper Wy. about 8:45 and went to an Exxon service station and filled up both the R.V. and car with regular unleaded for $3.329 per gallon; the cheapest so far on this trip. As we travelled Mary Jane (our bookkeeper) spent a good portion of the day figuring out our expenses and who paid what so we can reconcile the total expenses of the trip to be certain both couples pay 50% of the cost.  On our way up to Alaska when we stopped for fuel in Cheyenne, Wy. the “Corner Store” had “Jamaica Hot Patties” for sale and we had already eaten lunch that day so we decided we would stop on the way back. Sure enough two months later we found the same the same “Corner Store” and purchased Jamaica Hot Patties for lunch. Our travel today was along I-25 with ranches along both sides of the interstate most of the way. We did however go through a few urban areas; much different than what we found in Alaska. While traveling south of Colorado Springs a truck driver passed us with a semi-truck and was weaving; seemed to have trouble keeping his truck in the driving lane. We kept a safe distance behind him just in case of an unpleasant incident.  A few minutes later a state trooper passed us and pulled the truck over so surely he took care of whatever the problem was. That was the extent of our excitement for the day. Since we had so many exciting experiences in Alaska we are now trying to “wind down” toward normalcy so we will be ready to handle our normal duties when we get home. I do not have any pictures to post today; however you may go to Facebook and see pictures the Stanley Shirk has posted of our trip; just click on photos.      

Monday July 25, 2011 Posted by Merrill

Monday we left our campsite about 9:45; took more pictures as we were leaving the Grand Tetons since it was late in the day yesterday when we drove all the way through the Tetons and dark by the time we got back to our camper. We traveled 264 miles today reaching Casper Wy. about 5:45 in the evening.  Route US 26 eastbound was good except for some road construction as we were about to go through the mountain pass. The mountain pass with mountains all around us offered an awesome view; many miles of upward climbing and then down we came into hot dry weather. As we passed by a time and temperature sign it registered 98 degrees at 3:10pm so I guess we are going to have hot traveling from now on.

 The Grand Tetons

Notice the reflection in the water

Events of Sunday July 24, 2011 Posted by Merrill on Monday

Sunday at Yellowstone National Park some employees volunteer their time and conduct worship services at the amphitheater. We had difficulty finding the amphitheater in time to make the 9:00 service so we went back to the R.V. ate breakfast and made it a point to attend the 10:30 service.  It was a very meaningful service providing a worship experience in God’s magnificent creation as displayed here at Yellowstone National Park. After the service we packed a lunch, left the R.V. at the post office parking lot and drive the 17 miles or more with the car to see Old Faithful. When we got their the estimate time for the next eruption was in about 25 minutes; as it turned out the eruption happened about an hour after we arrived.  Old Faithful geyser was well worth the wait; it was amazing how people lined up around the sight to watch the hot water and steam shoot up in the air. Following the Old Faithful visit we drove further north to see several other smaller geysers and boiling water places. Late in the afternoon we left the Yellowstone National Park and drove about 15 miles to The Great Tetons National Park. We were able to camp at Colter Bay Campground. As soon as we got the R.V. parked we ate supper than drove the car to view the Great Tetons, magnificent mountains with rock formations all their own. We also enjoyed seeing wildlife along the 40 miles drive down and back.

Merrill and Marie

 Old Faithful Completing its Geyser Cycle

 Another Smaller Geyser

Entering The Grand Tetons

Events of Saturday July 23, 2011 posted by Merrill on Monday

Saturday morning Marie and Mary Jane did some laundry while Stanley and I made a trip into town, (Livingston, Montana) to purchase two lug nuts to secure the wheel cover on the R.V.  Last evening after we parked Stanley noticed that the chrome wheel cover was loose and brought it to my attention. Both of the lug nuts that fasten the wheel cover had come loose and were gone, fortunately we were able to purchase replacement lug nuts and we were not delayed too much. We traveled about an hour south until we entered Yellowstone National Park. The park is so big that you really need about a week or more not just two days to see it all so we spent most of the day driving around looking at the various “Hot Spots”. While we were at one of the water falls view site my niece, Amy spotted us so we got to visit with her and her family even before we went the campground. After a short visit they went back to their camp site and we joined them later and roasted marsh mellows at their camp site. It turned out to be a long day driving around in the park. We plan to go and see “Old Faithful” tomorrow. It was a long but good day by the time we settled in at Grant Village Campground. It was so nice to see Amy, Jay, Ayla, Amy’s sister Susan, and her twin brother, Andrew, his wife Dorcas, and their son Lane.

   Merrill, Marie, Mary Jane, & Stanley

White mineral reside from from hot geyser

Events of Friday July 22, 2011 Posted by Merrill on Monday

After spending over a week traveling through Canada we were indeed ready to find a U.S. Wal-Mart.  We literally spent the night at Wal-Mart in Great Falls, Montana; shopping and dry camping in their parking lot. In addition to purchasing groceries and basic supplies I was able to get them to replace the camera that I purchased in Montana on our way up to Alaska; it failed after about a month. Friday morning we left good ole Wal-Mart and we were on our way by 9:15 heading toward Livingston, Mt. Our travels included a stop at “Wheat Montana” a retail shop with a slogan of: We Sow It, Grow It, and Dough It. We were able to use their Wi-Fi and purchased some goodies from their bakery. This is where we made reservations for a campsite at Yellowstone National Park for Saturday night. Our plan is to meet my niece, Amy, her two children, and her brother and family in the Park on Saturday. We traveled to Livingston, Mt where we got a campsite at Osens R.V. Park, a nice park about 100 miles north of Yellowstone National Park.

  Wheat Montana Bakery & Deli

Marie making a purchase at wheat Montana

Thursday July 21, 2011 Posted by Mary Jane & Merrill

We left our Calgary Wal-Mart overnight spot about 8:30am and headed downtown Calgary with the intent to see Devonian Gardens with the R.V. and car in tow, a big mistake; the downtown area was not designed to park a rig our size so we circled around and decided to skip seeing the gardens. Once again headed South; our goal was to get into USA today. Since our route took us through the town of High River, Alberta we took time to stop by HyPower Fuel, a company that Marie’s brother, Ira was in partnership with to see how the business was doing. We were not able to find anyone at the manufacturing shop so we traveled on. Leaving there we used up all our Canadian cash to put gas in the RV which was enough to bring us to Great Falls, MT.  It was warm enough today to eat our lunch at a Wayside/RV park where we picked a few Saskatoon berries.    It appears that today was one of travel only which was ok as our main mission today was to reach Montana, We arrived at US Customs about 2:45 and we were checked through without any problems.  Because Stan needed to order some medication we stopped at the first town after crossing the border so he could make a phone call from a pay phone.  In that little town of Shelby we came upon a farmers market where we bought some fresh garden produce.  We needed to make sure we didn’t have any fruits or vegetables in our possession when we crossed the border so we were ready to stock up again once we got through. Though we are still so far from home, just coming into Montana makes us feel like we are home!  We filled up with gas at a Sam’s Club in Great Falls and Marie & I went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.  Since it was about 8 o’clock by the time we finished shopping, Merrill suggested we have supper at McDonald’s so we wouldn’t have to cook plus then we’ll have free           Wi-Fi.

 Marie, Mary Jane, & Stanley picking Saskatoon Berries

  Lunch beside the river next at Wayside Park

Wednesday July 20, 2011

Wednesday morning before we left Sagitawah R.V. Park (one of our best campgrounds) we took a few more pictures. We were on the road about 9:20 and heading south toward Edmonton, Alberta. We got to Edmonton in time to eat lunch in the mall parking lot before going into the West Edmonton Mall.  This mall is one of the largest malls in North America with over 800 stores, a beach area, a marine life area, an ice skating rink, movie theaters, several food courts, and much more. We only stayed a couple of hours and then continued on to Calgary. Most of our travel today consisted of large farms on both sides of the road; we again saw large canola fields in full bloom with their yellow flowers; very beautiful. We ate our supper at a rest area before reaching Calgary and headed on to a super Wal-Mart parking lot to spend the night. Stanley and I are now at a McDonalds making use of their Wi-Fi. We drove about 285 miles today and plan to reach Montana tomorrow before we stop for the night.

 Merrill & Marie at Sagitawah R.V. Park

 West Edmonton Mall Entrance #6

 Marie, Mary Jane, & Stanley in the Mall

 Beach Area in the Mall

 Ice Skating Rink in the Mall

   Seal Show at the Marine Area 

Tuesday July 19, 2011

This morning when I woke up I realized that this was the first night in quite a while that our heater did not run during the night; Stanley did turn the thermostat up for heat a little bit this morning to take the chill out.  Marie and Mary Jane prepared French toast for breakfast; we filled our water tank and emptied the holding tank as we were leaving the campground. The ladies wanted to do laundry so we stopped in a town along the way called Valley View, upon checking the only Laundromat in town the ladies said they were not willing to pay $4 per load to wash so we decided to wait until this afternoon.  We stopped traveling this afternoon about 3pm at Sagitawah R.V. Park a very nice park which is full service including a laundry room; $2.25 to wash and $1.50 to dry so it was worth the wait. We also have Wi-Fi at this campground. The scenery today was very similar to what we see in northern US. We only traveled 187 miles and called it a day. This evening after supper we walked around the park and out to the river, they have had a lot of rain recently; the mud that is still around is positive proof of the recent rain. We will be traveling within Canada two more days and then into Montana on our way south.

 Stanley updating his Facebook

 Our campsite at Sagitawah R.V. Park

 Stanley, Mary Jane, and Marie Crossing a Foot Bridge

 Mary Jane & Stanley walking toward the Foot Bridge

Events of Monday July 18, 2011 Posted by Merrill on Tuesday

Monday morning we left our campsite beside the little pond about 8:20 and headed south along the Alaska Highway. Our first stop was at a rest area about 10:30 we then continued on stopping at Sheppard’s Inn the final Roadhouse on the Alaska Highway heading south. We purchased sourdough bread and headed on to Fort St. John.  At Fort St. John we found the visitor center and were able to use their Wi-Fi connection. As we were leaving town we spotted Peace Island Park so we stopped there and had lunch in the park. As we traveled today we have enjoyed seeing the large farms especially the large yellow fields of Canola that are in full bloom this time of the year. We drove out a couple of miles on a stretch of the old Alaska Highway to look at the only timber curved bridge that was built along the Alaska Highway that is still in use today. The road improvement causes most of today’s traffic to bypass this bridge which was very much a part of the original Alaska Highway.  At Dawson Creek we made it a point to stop at milepost “0” the original starting point of the Alaska Highway built in 1942. While in Dawson Creek we fueled up and exchanged US money for Canadian money to help us make it back to the US. Traveling on we crossed into the Mountain Time zone as we entered into Alberta, Canada. Driving through the lower part of BC and now Alberta is very much like driving through northern United States. We reached Saskatoon Island Provincial Park about 7:30 in time to build a camp fire. We made pizza mountain pies for supper and smores for dessert. It was a beautiful evening; just a bit on the chilly side making the campfire feel good.

 Shepherd's Inn Roadhouse

 Flowers at Ft St John Visitor's Center

 Flowers at Ft St John Visitor's Center

 Fields of Canola in full bloom

 Timber Curved Bridge

 Timber Curved Bridge

 Milepost "0" at Dawson Creek

Camping at Saskatoon Island Prov. Park



Sunday July 17, 2011

Posted on Monday for Sunday's events by Merrill

Sunday morning we visited the Christian Missionary Alliance church in Fort Nelson. When we stopped at the visitor center on Saturday we were told that the church service starting time was 11:00. We left our camp site about 10:00 so we could ride around Fort Nelson a while before going to church, we arrived at the church about 10:40 and the parking lot was full of cars so we thought perhaps we were late. We were not given the proper information; their starting time is 11:00 in the winter and 10:30 in the summer however they like many places don’t start promptly. We were inside the church just as they were opening the service.  This particular congregation has been without a pastor for about five years however they do have a pastor that will be moving from Vancouver in the next month or so. They told us that it difficult to find a pastor who is willing to come this far north and settle into a remote area and make this their permanent home. One of their church elders, Ted Macdonald, brought the morning message preaching from Romans chapter 12.

Yesterday when we checked into the campground we ask about extending our stay passed the usual 11am check-out time and they approved us leaving the R.V. in the campsite until after we came back from church.  That made it very convenient to stay set up; when we came back from church the ladies prepared lunch so we ate before leaving. About 1:00 we were on the road again traveling south along the Alaska Highway. The road is very remote between Fort Nelson and Fort St John. We did take a break stopping at Bucking Horse River Lodge where Mary Jane called from the public phone to talk with their daughter Debbie. During our travel along this remote area we started listening to Patrick Swayze’s story on audible book. We didn’t plan to make this a long driving day so we began looking for a free “dry camp site” and sure enough about 4:45 we spotted a nice little pond with a gravel road good enough for us to drive right next to the pond. Stanley and I unhooked the car since we will have to back out. We also took advantage of the free pond water to wash our dirty car. We drove through some rain and the gravel road dirt just covers the car being towed. We see many dirty vehicles and vehicles with cracked windows because of loose gravel hitting them. So far we have two chips on our R.V. windshield and one on our car windshield; I’ll deal with that upon our return to Florida.



Church we attended 7-17-11  

 Wild Flowers - Fireweed along the Road

 Our Campsite

      

Posted by Mary Jane Saturday July 16, 2011

After breakfast and devotions Saturday morning, Merrill & Stan were ready to get in the hot springs again before leaving Liard River area.  Marie & I walked down too but didn’t get in.  Only one other person was there when the guys arrived this morning and the water seemed hotter; maybe because the water wasn’t stirred around as much.  We came back to the camper, packed up and were on the road by 10:30.  Just a short time on the road we came upon a whole herd of buffalo – over a dozen adult ones and 5 calves.  While stopped to take pictures, several of them just walked across the road right in front of us, not paying a bit of attention to us.  Cars coming toward us had to stop to let them cross!  Not too much farther down the road we came upon another herd of buffalo – this time in a clearing a bit more off the road.  They were harder to see because of the trees so Merrill climbed up on top of the camper to take pictures!  Whatever it takes to get a good picture!!  We stopped to take about a mile hike at Mineral Lick, hoping to see sheep or caribou at the salt lick but we didn’t see any.  However, we saw beautiful scenery.  Lunch time found us at a pull-off overlooking Muncho Lake.  We had to stop again when we got down closer to the lake and revel in the beauty of the jade colored water and massive mountain behind the lake.  Journeying on we caught sight of a Mama & baby caribou but too far away to get a good picture.  We were also delighted to see several mountain sheep with young ones, close to the road which moved quickly as we approached.  There were so many different variations in the mountains we saw today – such beauty.

We arrived in Fort Nelson around 5:45, checked at the Visitor’s Center for info about camping for tonight and a church for tomorrow.  We had a little issue with our campsite but we finally set up here at Blue Bell Inn & RV Park – with Wi-Fi!!

 Herd of Buffalo as we left Liard hot Springs

Marie and Merrill at Muncho Lake

Posted Saturday by Mary Jane for Friday July 15, 2011

We went to bed Thursday night hearing rain and woke up Friday morning hearing rain which made for good sleeping!  Because we were up late last night and it was raining, we took our time getting around in the morning.  By the time Marie & I went to the Visitor’s Center and the guys gassed up the R.V., we didn’t get off until 11:30.  Our excitement for the day was seeing lots of wild life as we traveled.  One at a time we saw 9 buffalo and 5 bear.  It’s fun to stop and watch them and interesting that we feel we have to take a picture each time!

The rain let up soon after we were on the road and we had times of bright sunshine and then more cloudiness too.  We arrived at Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park Campground around 4:30.  The campground was already full but they allowed us to park in the day use parking lot.  We had a nice spot in the corner and opened the canopy for the 1^st time.  We changed into our swimwear and headed for the Hot Springs – and hot it was!  There is a section that is not quite so hot and that helped us get our body adjusted.  Merrill, Stan & I got in; Marie didn’t even bring her bathing suit on this trip, but she did at least step in (and she took pictures).  We had a supper of leftovers and we all went to bed early - that mineral water really relaxed us.  Plus we had no internet service!

Thursday July 14, 2011

Thursday morning we got on the road about 8:00 and headed south from Whitehorse, YT Canada. We traveled 269 along the Alaska Highway making several stops along the way. A young black bear almost ran across the road in front of us, turned back and started to make a second dash across the road before heading back into the woods where he came from. I came to a complete stop but not quick enough to get the bear photographed.  Our lunch stop was at a wayside park at the Continental Divide. Soon after leaving the rest area we came to Continental Divide Lodge where we stopped and had rhubarb pie and coffee for dessert. We saw lots of rhubarb growing while on this trip but this was our first rhubarb pie. Traveling on we saw a brown bear grazing and digging for something along the right-of-way. He was too far away for good pictures but we photographed him anyway as best we could; it was fun watching him. We arrived here in Watson Lake about 3:45; stopped for gas and found out there was a bank two business away so we hurried over to the bank to exchange US funds to Canadian funds before the bank closing time at 4pm. From there we went to the campground and we are now set-up including an internet connection. After supper we went over to the Sign Post Forest here in Watson Lake to see if we could identify any of the previous thousands of travelers who passed by here and left a “sign post”. It was really interesting seeing all the different types of signs.

Just before leaving to go to the Sign Post Forest I discovered that my new camera that I purchased in Montana on this trip to replace the old camera that failed is also failing. I then began looking for the warranty and receipt and the receipt seemed to be lost. Stanley said we need to pray and ask God for help once again to find the lost item. While he was praying he said it was revealed to him where to look for the lost receipt; sure enough he found my receipt in the compartment where it had been placed; probably by me but with all that has been going on the past few weeks who knows? PTL I now have the proof of purchase and all the necessary papers that I should be able to get it replaced if I can ever find a Wal-mart.  My picture taking days may be over for a while; fortunately in this digital world I will be able to get pictures from Stanley’s.You may see Stanley's photos on Facebook.  
    

Wednesday July 13, 2011

Our travels Tuesday took us to Five Fingers Recreational Park between Carmacks and Pelly Crossing along the Klondike Highway. Mary Jane, Marie and I enjoyed hiking down to the river to view more closely the rapids on the Yukon River. The trail included 223 steps on two separate places that were too steep for a regular walking trail. Since we spent the forenoon in Dawson City we only traveled 208 miles today. We set up camp here and visited with a few other travelers as they came by; some only for a brief look from the viewing platform. We made out just fine at this “dry campsite” without hook-ups since we had a full service campground the night before.

 Five Fingers in the Yukon River

Merrill and Marie along the Yukon River

Wednesday we continued south to Whitehorse where Stanley and I are in a starbucks useing their internet. We made a few stops along the way, the most notable being the Braeburn Lodge and purchased one of the their famous cinnamon buns.     

Historic site along the way

 

 Braeburn's Lodge & Bakery

Marie and Mary Jane holding Cinnamon Bun